Coke and ash discharging apparatus



July 1, 1930. H. H. WON'NING V 1,768,945

COKE AND ASH DISCHABGING APPARATUS Filed 001;. 1,' 1923 s Sheets-Sheet 1 V em/14 50:

' $51 GUM/mea I July 1, 1930. wo l A 1,768,945

COKE AND ASH DISCHARGING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 1, 1926 SSheetS-Sheet '2 .1 i nvewcoz I July 1, 1930. H. 'HjWONNlNG,

COKE AND ASH DISQHARG-I-NG APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 1'. 1923 gwvento'c' 944M x/WW @51 ame/1 Patented July 1, 1930 T. i OFFICE HAREEY H. WONNING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HENRY L. DOHERTY, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y. I

COKE-AND ASH DISCHARGING APPARATUS Application filed October 1, .1923.

This invention relates to a coke and ash discharging apparatus for gas generators of the shaft type.

The subject matter of the present case is a coke and ash discharging apparatus which is particularly adapted for the gas making generator of the type illustrated and described in the application of Loebell for the manu facture of 'fuelgas, Serial No. 640,828, filed May 23, 1923. V

In shaft generators of the type shown in the above application, the coal to be carbonized and gasified by a continuous operation is supported in a vertical column and moves slowly downwardly through the generator while passing through a series of heat treatment zones. The entire column of ash, coke and coal is supported at the bottom of the generator and a portion of the ash and unburned coke may be continuously removed from the bottom, thereby permitting the entire column of charge material to gradually work downwardly through the generator at any desired rate of speed. The gradual and regular removal of the ash and coke throughout the Whole lower section of the generator is rendered difficult because of the great. weight of the column of material and the tendency of the ash and coke to pack into compact masses and to build up hard clinkered bodies. These bodies or masses are diiiicult to break up, and often become so large that they seriously impede the discharging operation. The body of ash and unburned coke which has passed through the hot mid section of the generator must be cooled, partly in order that it will not burn out the bottom of the generator, and also to prevent the A0 removal of heat from the generator. A heat transferring medium in the form of a gas or mixture of gases is introduced into the bottom of the column to cool the material in the bottom and carry the heat taken from this material toward the center of the charge. It is very important, in order to make this heat transfer eflicient, that the body of the charge be kept in a finely divided and porous condition, so that these gases may be uniformly so distributed and provided With a free upward Serial No. 666,036.

passage throughout the whole cross section of the charge.

The primary object of the present inventlon is to provide a discharging apparatus for shaft generators capable of supporting a column of fuel and of agitating the body of the fuel charge to keep it in a granular porous state.

A further object of the invention is to provide a discharging apparatus for shaft generators by means of which the unburned fuel and ash is removed uniformly throughout the cross sectional area at the bottom of the fuel column, at any desired rate.

A further object of the invention is to provide a discharging device for shaft generators which will operate in such a way as to allow a heat transferring gas to enter and distribute itself freely throughout the entire cross-section of the shaft.

l/Vith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the coke and ash discharging apparatus described in the following specification and defined in the claims.

The various features of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a vertical view partly in section of a coal carbonizing shaft generator provided with a coke discharging device embodying a preferred form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the coke'discharging apparatus with parts cut away;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the coke discharging apparatus taken on the line 3-8 of Fig. 2

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the reciprocating platforms taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

The generator shown in the accompanying drawing comprises an upright cylindrical shaft or shell 10 with a refractory lining into which coal to be carbonized and gasified is intermittently fed from a bin 12 through a charging hopper 14, and thence into the top of the generator by'means of charging doors in the top and bottom of the charging hopper which are opened and closed alternately. The coal is supported as a column in the generator, and as it moves downwardly through the genorator it passes through. a heati g a d, di

tilling zone in the upper part of the generator wherein it is gradually heated to constantly increasing temperatures. From the heating zone it passes into a high temperature zone in the central part of the shaft, where a part of the coke product of the distillation which took place in the heating zone is burned by a blast of preheated air and steam introduced into the shaft from the preheaters 16 through the conduits 18. The remainder of the coke together with the ash formed in the high temperature zone passes downwardlv through a cooling zone in the bottom part of the shaft, where it is gradually cooled by contact with a heat transferring gas and is removed from the bottom of the column by a discharging apparatus 20. The coke discharged by the apparatus 20 falls into a hopper 22 in the bottom-of the shell from which a portion is periodically removed by means of a revolving truncated cone gate 24. Steam of other gaseous heat transferring medium for controlling both the temperatures in the fuel column and the coal carbonization, enters the generator through a pipe 26 in the shell 10 below the discharging device and is uniformly distributed into the bottom of the fuel column by means of a coil 28. This steam or gas passes upwardly through the sections of the discharging oevice'and is then distributed throughout each section of the descending body of the charge, cooling the charge and returning the heat recovered back into the hot mid zone of the shaft. From the upper part of the generator the gases formed by the carbonization of the coal together with the gas introduced as a heat transferring medium, leave through an outlet pipe 30 in the top of the shaft. A major portion of the air blast gases are removed through a circumferential oiftake 32 and pipes 34 into waste heat boilers 36, and the gases then pass through pines 38 and 40 into the preheaters 16, where they are burned.

The discharging device 20 serves to support the column of coke, ash and coal in the generator, to agitate the lower portion of the column and to remove coke and ash continuously from the bottom of the column at any rate desired.

The device 20 is made up of three separate groups of elements, the upper and lower elements being movable, while the'intermediate group of elements is stationary. The upper element comprises a movable deflecting cone 42, positioned in the longitudinal axis of the shaft. The column of material which constitutesthe generator charge is supported directly by this central deflecting cone 42 (see 2 and Fig, 3) and by a number of peripherally arranged receivers 44 and horizon tal platforms 46. The receivers comprise six radially placed hoppers with open bottoms which fill the space between the central cone and the inner wall 47 of the shaft. One of the horizontal platforms is positioned beneath the open bottom of each of said hoppers, being vertically spaced therefrom and having a surface area sufficient to support positively any material in the shaft not supported by the central cone and the peripheral hoppers. The deflecting cone is made eccentric, its apex being offset some distance from the center line of the shaft, and the cone is supported at the center line of the shaft on a bearing or turn table 48. The cone is made to revolve about this central axis, and by this revolving motion, which may be in either direction, the flat top of the cone, offset from the central axis as already explained, is swung in an arc about the central axis of the shaft. The body of the descending charge is continually agitated thereby, and is pushed to the outside of the revolving cone as it descends. Thus the ash and unburned coke in the bottom of the charge is pushed onto the peripheral receivers 44 by the action of the revolving cone assisted by the weight of the overlying column of fuel. The material then passes through openings in the bottom of the hopper-like receivers 44 and flows upon the movable platforms or tables 46. which are spaced from but hang directly beneath the hopper openings. The platforms 46 are suspended from wheels 50 rolling on an overhead supporting track 52, and are so arranged as to be given a reciprocating motion by means of water operated engines 53, in order 'to discharge the coke and ash into the hopper 22. The platforms 46 are made with an area larger than that of the discharge openings in the bottoms of the peripl eral hoppers, so that the coke spreading out on these platforms will not flow, unaided by the motion of the plat-forms, over the edges of the plate. The column of fuel will thereby be positively supported above the surface of the platforms 46.

The revolving cone is driven by a source of power outside the generator which actuates a pusher rod 54, that passes through a stuffing box 56 in the outside shell (see Fig. 2). The pusher rod is connected by a pin 58 with a cast rod 60. This rod is in turn connected by a pin 62 with a lever 64 (Figs. 2 and 3) which is keyed to one end of a bell crank shaft 66. To the other end of the shaft 66 is keyed a lever 68, which is in turn connected to a lever 7 O by a pin 7 2. The lever 7 O is connected at its other end to one end of a ratchet arm 74 by a pin 76. The ratchet arm 74 is bolted fast to a casting forming the thrust bearing or turntable which carries the revolving cone. Small pins 78 (Fig. 3,) are fixed to the cone at regular intervals about its circumference, being fixed in angles riveted beneath and just inside the outside edge of the cone face. Two dogs 80 and 82 are pivoted in the outer end of the ratchet arm 74 on pins 84 and 86 respectively. The pins 84 and 86 are free to rotate in bushings set in the end of the ratchet arm and the dogs and 82 are fixed upon and rotatewiththe pins, and are placed so that they can engage with the pins 78 on the cone. The pins 84 and 86 extend downwardly from the ratchet'arm, and chains 88 are wrapped'several times about the lower end of each of the pins. An end of each of the chains 88 is passed over like pulleys 90 in brackets 92 which are bolted to the ratchet arm 74 and weights 94 are attached to the ends of the chains passing over pulleys 90. The other ends of the chains 88 are passed in turn over pulleys 96 and 98, thence through stufling boxes 100 in the shell and over the pulleys 102 and are fastened to weights 104 on the outside of the shell. Sinceeach of the pins84 and 86 is provided with a chain 88, by shifting the weights 104 from one chain to the other chain, the weights 94 on the other ends of chains remaining fixed, one of the pins 84 or 86 may be rotated in one direction, while the other is rotated in the opposite direction, thus throwing one dog in position to engage and the other dog out of position for engagement'with the pins 7 8 on the cone. Two stop pins 105 and 106 are -set in the ratchet arm, one behind each of the dogs, to hold them in engagement with the pins 78-. i

As the pusher rod 54 moves back and forth, its motion is transmitted to the bell crank shaft 66 through the lever 64, causing the shaft to rotate through an angle the size of which is governed by the length of the stroke of the pusher rodi The rotation of the shaft 66 setsjup an oscillation in the toggle members 68 and 70, and this motion is in turn communicated to the ratchet arm 74, causing it to swing back and forth through a small angle about the central bearing 48'. Thus, on the forward stroke of the pusher rod the ratchet arm and the left hand dog 80 (as shown in Fig. 3) is held in engagement with the pins 78 by the stop 105 and weights 104 so as to rotate the cone through a small angle in a counterclockwise direction; 7 On the back stroke of the pusher rod and ratchet arm the dog 80 will break contact with the pin with which it has been engaged. and its back face will slip around some of the pins 78, until on the next forward stroke it engages again with one of the following pins. Thus on the back stroke of the pusher rod' the cone remains stationary, when the dog 80 is'being used. If we wish to rotate the cone in the other direc tion, however, we throw the dog 80 out of engagement and at the same time throw 82 in engagement by transferring the weights 104. from one chain 88 to the other thus throwing the dog 82 against the stop pin 106. The notched driving face ofthe dog 82 faces in the opposite direction from that on. the dog 80,, so that it engages with the pin '78 in a manner such that the cone will be rotated in a clockwise direction on: the back stroke of the pusher rod, and will remain stationary on the forward stroke.

The peripheral receivers 44 which make up .the stationary elements of the discharging apparatus, are constructed of sheet metal.

rectangular shaped slanting sides 112. The

adjacent sides of each adjoining pair of receivers form a hopper, with a rectangular openbottom. The outer wall of this hopper is an apron 116 attached at its'upper end to the inner liningof the shaft and at its lower end extending down to the platforms 46. The portion of the hopper opposite the apron 116 is open. The material in the bottom of the shaft is directed through these hoppers onto the top surfaces of'the horizontal platforms 46, and as has been previously stated the surface area of these platforms is madesufliciently large so that the platforms will extend under the sides 52 of the hoppers, and also beneath the cone, an amount such that no material will fall over the edges of the platforms while they are in a stationary position beneath the hopper openings. A boxlike offset 114 is built into the inner wall'of theshaft behind each of these platforms. Each of these boxes is large enough to permit the platformto be drawn into it on the back stroke of the engine 53. Thus each time the platform 46 is withdrawn into the box the body of material which was supported in the hopper directly above the platform falls into the'hopper22 at the bottomof the shaft. The aprons 116 scrape thesurface of the platforms clean as they are being withdrawn into the boxes 114 and prevent any material being carried into the boxes by the platforms. 7 The platforms are reciprocated at frequent intervals, the frequency of the intervals being governed so as to remove fuel from the bottom of the column at any rate desired.

The whole discharge apparatus is supported by the girders 108 which are provided with expansion seats and supported by the shaft columns 116. The connecting pins 58 and 62 of the cone rotating mechanism slide back and forth on supporting brackets 118, and the pin 7 6 slides back and forth on the supporting bracket 120. Six nests of rollers 122 are provided, one nest being erected on each of the girders (Fig. 2) as supports for the outer face of the cone. The bell crank shaft 66 is supported by the cast bearings 124 and 126 which are supported on one of the girders 108 while the turntable casting 48 is supported at the center of the shaft at the apex of all the supporting girders 108.

The above described discharging apparatus keeps the portion of the charge which has passed the high temperature zone of the generator in a state of continual agitation, preventing the building up of any hard clinker masses. The removal of coke and ash is made substantially uniform throughout the entire crosssection of the column. Moreover the agitation of the lower section of the column serves to keep the coke and ash in an open and porous condition, with the result that the heat transferring gas introduced at the bottom of the receivers will rise along the face of the revolving cone and distribute itself evenly throughout the whole cross-section of the charge.

In shaft generators of the type shown, where a blast of hot gases is introduced around the circumference in the mid zone of the generator, there is a possibility that at certain times the fuel in the center of the column will be underburned, with respect to that in the outer sections nearest the blast inlets. This will result in a greater concentration of ash and clinker in the outer layers of the column, nearest the wall of the shaft, while the center of the column may contain a larger proportion of unburned fuel. By using the type of discharging device described above, however, any unburned fuel which might be concentrated in the center of the column is gradually forced outwardly toward the Walls, where it comes in contact with the hotter portions of the charge and is more completely burned. Moreover, since the discharge openings in the peripheral hoppers are positioned near the outer wall, the rate at which the material is discharged through these openings may be controlled so that the ash and unburned fuel are thoroughly mixed and are in the proportions desired.

The preferred form of the invention having been thus described, what I claim as new is:

1. A discharging mechanism arranged for mounting in the lower portion of a shaft-type gas generator above the ash pit for supporting a column of fuel in the shaft, for agitating fuel throughout the lower cross section of the column, and for advancing fuel through the shaft and discharging ash and unconsumed fuel from the foot of the column, comprising a rotatably mounted charge sup porting and agitating member covering the major portion of the cross sectional area of the shaft, a stationary charge supporting member for receiving material passing said agitating member, and a movably mounted charge supporting and discharging member for causing material to pass said stationary support.

2. A discharging mechanism arranged for mounting in the lower portion of a shaft type gas generator above the ash pit for supporting a column of fuel in the shaft, for agitating fuel throughout the lower cross section of the column and for discharging ash and unconsumed fuel from the foot of the column, comprising an upper movable charge supporting and agitating member disposed in the longitudinal axis of the shaft and covering a major portion of the cross sectional area of the shaft, a stationary charge sup porting member closely spaced below said agitator adjacent the inner periphery of the shaft in position to receive material passing said agitator, and a movably mounted charge supporting and discharging member closely spaced below said stationary member.

3. A discharging mechanism arranged formounting in the lower portion of a gas generator above the ash pit comprising, an upper movably mounted charge supporting and agitating member, a number of lower movably mounted charge supporting and discharging members closely spaced below said agitating member, and a series of stationary charge supporting members closely spaced vertically between said agitator and said discharging elements, said elements forming in combination a positive support for a charge of fuel in the generator.

4. A discharging mechanism arranged for mounting in the lower portion of a shaft comprising, a rotatable upright cone-shaped platform mounted in the longitudinal axis of the shaft, a plurality of stationary hopper-like receivers with open bottoms closely spaced below the outer edge of said platform around the inner periphery of the shaft, and a movably mounted horizontal platform closely spaced below the open bottom of each receiver. i

5. A discharging mechanism arranged for mounting in-the lower portion of a gas generator above the ash pit for supporting and agitating a charge column therein and for discharging material from the foot of the columncomprising, a number of movable and stationary elements forming in combination a complete closure for the generator and arranged in closely spaced horizontal planes with their adjacent edges closely spaced, the upper element being rotatably moun ed for agitation of the charge, and the lower elements being movably mounted for reciprocation in and out of their normal charge supporting position to thereby advance the charge thru the generator by discharging ma terial from the foot of the column.

6. A discharging mechanism arranged for mounting in the lower portion of a gas gen erator above the ash pit comprising an uprightrotatably mounted cone for supporting and agitating a charge of fuel, a plurality of stationary hopper-like receivers for supporting fuel in the shaft not directly supported cone, and separate means for controlling the by the deflecting cone, and platform closures oscillation of each platform.

for said receivers mounted for reciprocation in and out of a normal charge supporting position to thereby advance charge material through the shaft and past said receivers and cone at a controlled rate. r

7 In coke and ash discharging mechanism for gas generators, an eccentric cone, a bearing supporting said cone in the longitudinal axis of the shaft, a number of pins attached to the outer edge of the cone, a power driven ratchet arm having two oppositely faced dogs pivoted thereon in position to engage said pins, and means for placing one of said dogs only in engagement with said pins to rotate said cone on oscillation of said ratchet.

8. A discharging mechanism arranged for mounting in the lower portion of a shaft generator above the ash pit, comprising an eccentric cone platform, a bearing supporting said platform in approximately the central axis of the shaft, means whereby the cone platform may be rotated in either direction about the supporting bearing, a number of peripherally mounted stationary hopper-like receivers with open bottoms vertically spaced from the cone and positioned between the outer edge of the cone and the inner wall of the shaft in a way such that the outer rim of the cone will come substantially flush'with each receiver, .a closure platform movably mounted beneath the open bottom of each receiver, and means arranged to impart a re- I ciprocatorymovement to said platforms.

9. In coke and ash discharging mechanism for gas generators, an upright cone platform, a bearing supporting said platform, a ratchet arm fixed to said bearing, pins fixed to the lower side of the said platform at regular intervals about its circumference, connections linked to the ratchet arm whereby it may be oscillated, two dogs attached to the ratchet arm, each provided with a face adapted to engage with the pins on the cone platform for moving said platform, and means for throwing either of the dogs out of engagement when the other dog is engaged with the said pins.

10. A discharging mechanism arranged for mounting inthe lower portion of a shaft generator above the ash pit comprising, an eccentric movably mounted cone, a number of stationary hopper-like receivers with open bottoms located between the periphery of the said cone and the inner wall of the shaft, a movably mounted closure platform beneath each receiver opening, said cone and each of said platforms being mounted in independently movable relationship, connections whereby said cone may be rotated about its supporting means, connections whereby each of said platforms may be oscillated with respect to its supporting means, means for regulating the direction of rotation of the In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HARVEY H. WONNING. 

